Collapsible closet-forming structure



V. DE LYNN COLLAPSIBLE CLOSET-FORMING STRUCTURE Feb. 4, 1969 Filed Aug.10, 1967 Sheet of 2 FIG. 1

lllllllllllll lllllllllllll INVENTOR VICTOR DELYNN ATTORNEYS,

Feb. 4, 1969 v. m:- LYNN 3,425,763

CQLLAPSIBLE CLOSET-FORMING STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 10. 1967 Sheet 2 of 2'II'IIII INVENTOR VICTOR DELYNN ATTORNEYS -mmmmmnu'- United StatesPatent US. Cl. 312-258 9 Claims Int. Cl. A4713 43/00 ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE The present disclosure is directed to a closet-formingstructure which may be flat-folded for storage, shipping, and easyhandling, and which may be simply erected in minimized time by anunskilled layman without any tools whatever, and placed flush against afloor, wall, and a ceiling to form a finished, six-sided closet offloor-toceiling height. The new structure is essentially threelayered,when collapsed, and includes a front wall panel and side wall panelspermanently articulated thereto. A self-contained door is included inthe front wall panel, while shelf and/or drawer supports are included inthe side walls. Slidable, auxiliary wall members are included at theupper portions of all three walls and may be manually adjusted toeffectively project the closet walls up to and against a ceiling toprovide the finished closet with a full, floor-toceiling configuration.

Summary 0) the invention With rising labor costs and the scarcity oftrained, skilled carpenters, the costs of building any institutionalbuilding, home dormitory or the like has become prohibitive. Forexample, among the items usually consuming substantial labor and addingsignificantly to the cost of the completed building is the cost of anordinary closet. That is to say, a most significant portion of theactual cost of a closet is often the many hours of skilled laborinvolved in building and installing the closet, in situ. Accordingly, itis a primary object of the present invention to provide a collapsiblecloset-forming construction which may be installed by unskilled labor inlittle time, with little effort, and no tools.

The new closet-forming structure includes three consecutivelyarticulated wall panels, within the central one of which a bifold dooris hung. The two outermost wall panels include shelf clips or similarmechanical fasteners to which a main bracing shelf spanning the gaptherebetween maybe joined simply and without tools. Installation of themain shelf automatically squares the unit (i.e., provides it with arectangular cross section) and establishes a stable and rigidifiedstructure having completely open top, bottom, and rear sides. The newstructure is adapted to be erected on a building floor at a desiredcloset site and slid against a building wall to close off the open topand rear sides to provide a rear wall and bottom wall for the finishedcloset.

As mentioned hereinabove, the wall panels each include adjustable,auxiliary members at the upper edges, which members may be extendedflush with the ceiling to close the remaining sides of the closet and toprovide the closet with a top wall. Thus, when the closet-formingstructure is placed in position against the wall, floor, and ceilingsurfaces at the closet site, a complete, floor-toceiling closet will beformed. The new closet may be further rigidified by inserting a coat rodbetween the two side walls. The rod may also be installed without toolsmerely by placing it in semi-circular socket elements installed on eachof the side walls.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference should bemade to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a completely erected and installedcloset embodying the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a squared closetforming structure;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the closet-forming structure in its flat-foldedcondition;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view of an r installed closettaken alon lines 44 of FIG. 1 and showing details of construction; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken along lines 5-5 ofFIG. 4 showing a detail of the mounting of an auxiliary wall member to awall panel.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the completed closet includes a front wall 10,side walls 11 and 12 articulated to the front wall, and rear wall formedby a permanent structure, i.e., building wall W, floor F, and ceiling C.As shown, the front wall includes a jamb 13 and saddle 14 which definean opening in which a door 15 is mounted. Advantageously, the door 15 isof bifold construction and is supported on appropriate tracks 16.

As an important aspect of the invention, auxiliary wall members 17,fabricated from molding, are slidably mounted for selective verticalmovement to each of the wall members 11, 10 and 12, by suitable,concealed friction mounting means. For example, the auxiliary wallmembers 17 may be grouted in a dovetail fashion to form keyways 19 (FIG.5) which are blind at one end. Screws 20 having tapered heads 21 similarin configuration and dimension to that of the cross section of thekeyways may be driven into the upper portions of each of the front andside walls of the closet, as shown in FIG. 1, to support the members 17.In other words, the screw heads act as keys which hold the members 17 byfriction fits to the upper portions of the wall panels. As will beunderstood, suitable adjustment of the members 17 may be had merely byforcing the moldings upwardly or downwardly over the screw heads 21.Thus, the height of the closet can be varied by an amount equal to thelength of the keyways 19. For example, in a closet designed forinstallation in a room having nominal eight foot ceilings, the height ofthe closet may be varied from seven feet ten inches to eight feet twoinches.

As an important aspect of the invention and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3,the side wall panels 11, 12 are each articulated to the front wall panel10 by internally disposed hinges 22, 23 Which are concealed when thestructure is erected. As will be appreciated, this enables the sidewalls 11, 12 to be folded inwardly upon the main wall into athree-layered structure, as shown in FIG. 3, for storage, shipping, andeasy handling. For example, when the wall panels are fabricated frominch stock, acceptable by all building standards for durable closets,the flat-folded structure will be less than 3 /2 inches in thickness.

As a further important aspect of the invention, in order to accommodatethe complete flat-folding of the side wall panels 11, 12, which aregreater than half the width of the front wall, the side wall panel 12 ishinged in an offset manner from the plane of the front wall panel 10. Asshown in FIG. 3, the hinges 23 are supported by an offset post 24 whichis approximately equal in width to the thickness of the wall panel 11.In this fashion it will be possible for the side wall panel 11 to befolded first and then the side wall panel 12 to be flat-flded thereover.

The side walls 11, 12 also include female shelf clips 25, coat rodsockets 26 formed by blind holes, and two vertical rows of 4 inchhardware holes 27, in which standard inch shelf pins 28a or new drawerguides 28b may be selectively disposed, as shown in FIG. 4. Fordust-free, flush mounting of the side wall panels 11, 12 against thebaseboard of the wall W, the corners of the panels may be formed ofcompressible plastic foam pads 40, as shown in FIG. 1. As will beunderstood, the foam pads will conform themselves to the specificcontour of the baseboard.

In accordance with the invention, the closet-forming structure of theinvention is squared and rigidified by an upper main bracing shelf 30which includes male shelf clips 31 at each end thereof. Advantageously,the main bracing shelf 30 includes edging strips 32 suitably attachedthereto. When found desirable or necessary, a lower main bracing shelf36, similar to the shelf 30, may be included in the closet-formingstructure.

Further rigidification of the closet-forming structure is obtained bythe installation of a coat rod 33 and additional shelves 34 or drawers35 supported at selected levels of the closet by the shelf pins 28a andthe new drawer guides 28b all of which may be installed without tools.The new drawer guides are formed from inch wire and, as shown in FIG. 2,are of a shallow U-shape having legs 42 spaced identically to the centerto center spacing of the vertical rows of hardware 'holes 27 Thus, as animportant aspect of the invention, the drawers 35 and the shelves 34 maybe interchangeably arranged, as desired, using common hardware holes 27.

Specifically, the drawers 35 and shelves 34 are of full closet width butare of not substantially more than half the depth of the closet. Asshown in FIG. 4, the outer sides of the drawers 35 include grooves 43through which the drawers 35 will be slidably supported by the guides28b for movement between the wall W and the front wall panel and, thus,will be openable within the closet. Advantageously, when the newclose-forming structure is installed in dormitories and the like, theutilization of the new closet-forming structure as a casing for aplurality of drawers 35, as shown in FIG. 1, will often eliminate thenecessity of providing a separate case of drawers.

As will be appreciated, a fioor-to-ceiling closet may be erected withouttools, in accordance with the invention, in less than ten minutes by anunskilled workman or a layman. The flat-folded structure is merelyopened and the coat rod 33 inserted in the sockets 26 formed on theopposite wall panels 11, 12. Parenthetically, it should be noted that,absent the hinging of the side wall panels 11, 12 to the front wallpanel 10, it would not be possible to support a coat rod by opposedcylindrical wall sockets. Thereafter, through the open rear portion, themain bracing shelf is locked in place by joining the shelf clips 31, 25,thereby squaring and rigidifying the structure. Additional shelves maybe installed by setting them over the shelf pins 28a. In accordance withthe invention, the drawers may be simply installed through the rearopening in the closet by sliding the grooves 43 horizontally over theguides 28b. At this stage of the erection, the closetforming structureis moved flush against the wall W, and the auxiliary members are pushedup flush against the ceiling C to form a complete closet.Advantageously, the dimensions of the structure are appropriately chosenin relation to the room in which the closet is to be formed, such thatthe squared structure cannot be tipped over. That is to say, theclearance between the ceiling and the rearmost edges of the members 17,in their minimally projected positions, is such that pivoting of theentire structure forwardly about an axis passing through the saddle 14would cause the edges of members 17 to strike the ceiling.

The tip-proof nature of the closet-forming structure provides adesirable safety factor.

As should be understood, the completed closet may be permanentlyanchored to the wall W through holes 41 formed in the rearmost shelfedging 32 or through separate standard cleats, if desired. Moreover, itwill be appreciated that the closet-forming structure of the inventionmay be fabricated in any size from wood, metal or any other commonlyavailable structural material, prefinshed or otherwise.

It should be understood that the specific structure herein illustratedand described is intended to be representative only, as certain changesmay be made therein without departing from the clear teachings of thedisclosure. Accordingly, reference should be made to the followingappended claims in determining the full scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A collapsible closet-forming structure including (a) a front wallpanel including members defining a door frame;

(b) a door supported by said front wall panel for openining and closingmovement within said door frame;

(0) side wall panels articulated to said front wall panels;

((1) auxiliary wall members slidably mounted at upper portions of saidwall panels for limited predetermined displacement relative thereto;

(e) a bracing shelf member of full closet width and having first lockingmeans at its ends; .and

(f) second shelf-locking means, adapted to cooperate with said firstshelf-locking means, mounted on the inner surfaces of said side wallpanels.

2. A closet-forming structure in accordance with claim 1 in which (a)said auxiliary wall members are supported in adjusted relation to saidwall panels by frictionally held key means.

3. A closet-forming structure in accordance with claim 1, in which (a)one of said side wall panels is articulated to said front wall panel bya hinge having its pivot axis generally at the plane of said front wallpanel; and

(b) the other of said side wall panels is articulated to said front wallpanel by a hinge having its pivot axis oifset from the plane of saidfront wall panel by a distance subsbtantially equal to the thickness ofsaid one side wall panel.

4. A closet-forming structure in accordance with claim 1, in which (a)the lower rearmost corner portions of said side wall panels are formedby a compressible foam element.

5. A closet-forming structure in accordance with claim 1, which includes(a) rod supporting means disposed at the inner surfaces of said sidewall panels; and

(b) a coat rod adapted to be supported by said means.

6. A closet-forming structure in accordance with claim 1, which includes(a) a plurality of common hardware holes formed in spaced, vertical rowsat the inner surfaces of said side wall panels; and

(b) adjustable shelf and drawer supporting elements associated withselected ones of said holes.

7. A closet-forming structure in accordance with claim 0 6, in which (a)said drawer supporting elements are formed of a U-shaped wire the legsof which are spaced apart a distance equal to the spacing of saidvertical rows;

(b) said shelf supporting elements are shelf in means having the samediameter as said wire.

8. A closet-forming structure in accordance with claim 1, in which (a)at least one drawer of full closet width adapted to be supported by saidsupporting elements;

5 6 (b) said drawer being of substantially less than full 3,136,3576/1964 Lorentzen et a1 160178 closet depth. 3,222,116 12/ 1965 Levenberg312-245 9. A closevforming structure in accordance with claim 3,294,46412/1966 Lew 312-258 1, in which 3,320,009 5/1967 Vevirit et a1. 3l2258(a) said auxiliary Wall members are fabricated from 5 FOREIGN PATENTSmolding srtlp.

14,548 8/1881 Germany.

References Cited JAMES T. McCALL, Primary Exmniner. UNITED STATESPATENTS 1,181,652 7/1931 Abrams 61; al 160-228X 10 3,061,396 10/1962Hock 312258 312-6

